Join.Me: Start A Remote Desktop Sharing Session With Anyone

A remote desktop sharing session allows users to share their computer screen with any other user, both having an active internet connection. The general way to start a remote session is to install a remote desktop software at both host and client end. Next, the host sends his identity to the client (in most cases it’s a unique ID, password or a URL).

When the client enters the same username, password or URL in his browser, the remote connection is established. Now the host and the client are connected via the remote desktop connecting software and both users can share their computer screen with each other. Not only screen sharing, but they can exchange instant messages, send files, share control and do a lot of other tasks.

There are lots of remote desktop sharing applications available for Windows, Linux or MAC. Some of the very popular programs are Teamviewer, Logmein, Yuugu and so on.

But one of the very simplest and easy to use web based remote sharing applications is Join.me Join.me is a new yet impressive way to share your desktop with anyone. Since it is a web application that works directly from the browser, the users do not need to download or install anything and it supports all platforms – Windows, Linux and Mac.

Start A Remote Session Using Join.me

1. Start your web browser and open the Join.me home page. next. Click the “Share” button as shown below:

2. Now you will be asked to save an executable file (~ 1MB) on your computer. Save the executable file and install it on your computer.

3. When you are done installing the Join.me executable, you will see a simple widget placed at the top of the desktop.

This is your Join.me widget which will copy a Unique Join.me URL in the text box ( e.g http://join.me/456-286-391 ). Copy this URL to Windows clipboard and send it to anyone with whom you want to start the remote desktop session.

When the user clicks your Join.me URL, he will see a complete view of your desktop in his browser. Here is how the host desktop is supposed to look in the client’s browser, when he joins your remote desktop session:

As you can see, the client is using Windows XP while the Host is using Windows7 in the above example. The host computer will see a notification near the system tray as shown below:

Working On The Remote Session

When the remote desktop session is established, you can do a lot of useful tasks : share instant messages, request or allow control, start a voice conference and so on.

To start sending instant messages, click the small “Chat” icon (second from the left) , type in your message and hit “Enter”

The client user will immediately receive a pop up message on his screen, he can simply type in his message on the Join.me chat widget and hit “Return” to send the message.

Similarly, you can start a voice conference using the “Call” button at the far left.

Requesting Or Allowing Control

The best thing regarding a remote desktop session is the ability to control the client’s system from your computer. Both you and the client user can request control of each other’s system and control the remote computer as if you were sitting just next to the remote user and controlling it. You can open any folder, move files, delete files and folders and do each and every possible task that is possible from the native system.

Let us suppose you want to allow the remote user the ability to control your computer. Click the “Allow Control’ button and then choose “Yes” as shown below:

The client user will immediately receive a notification as “Do you want to control the host computer?“. When he chooses yes, he will be allowed complete control of your computer. He can then open Windows explorer, browse to any specific folder, copy, move or delete files and perform any other possible task (including system shutdown or Restart)

This is a really great way to provide tech support to any user, provided he/she is connected to the internet. Join.me also allows multiple people to connect through a remote desktop which is useful when you are working as a team and need to show other members a view of your desktop.

The basic version of Join.me is free but if you need more features, you can upgrade to the pro plan. The Pro plan allows users to get a personalized Join.me URL, schedule and lock meetings in addition to all the goodies available in the basic version. The pro plan costs $29 a month or $299 a year.

Have you ever used a remote desktop sharing application? Which is your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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9 comments

darya_kyawsays

I can’t help but question if the author has a clue what they’re talking about. In one paragraph they say you don’t need to download/install anything, then in the next they explain you have to download an executable and install it.

it doesn’t work on Linux, I tested. The windows binary runs on wine with no apparent problem, it even gives you a number to access from the other side but the screen on the client side stays grey all the time.

I doubt that. LogMeIn, its parent software (join.me was called LogMeIn Express before) can’t be used to access Linux desktops. You can access Windows and Mac desktops from a Linux client, but not Linux desktops from anywhere. I suspect this is the same here.

That join.me.exe file you must download won’t do anything on a Linux desktop… (or a Mac, but they probably provide a similar app for the Mac. Again, no mention of Linux anywhere in the whole site.)